


It's About Torchwood. And a Baby.

by Eldabe



Category: Torchwood
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-12
Updated: 2012-03-12
Packaged: 2017-11-01 20:56:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/361142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eldabe/pseuds/Eldabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Torchwood is ready to handle anything that falls through the rift. Really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's About Torchwood. And a Baby.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iceshade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceshade/gifts).



> Written for [iceshade](iceshade.livejournal.com) for her birthday! She requested "Ianto Jones holding a baby. With Jack and Gwen. And LOLs."
> 
> Originally posted on my [livejournal](http://eldarwannabe.livejournal.com/118897.html)

"Sixty-third century, give-or-take," Jack declared, looking down at the scanner and squinting. 

"How can you tell?" Gwen demanded, taking a moment from her cooing and petting.

"Genetic markers," Jack answered, fiddling with a switch. "That far in the future and they don't read as human anymore, not on this scanner." 

Ianto studied the futuristic cradle for a minute. He decided that if they removed the little fin-like projections on the side, it would fit in the back of the SUV. He went to get a laser-cutter. 

When he came back, Gwen had finally picked up the baby, holding it awkwardly balanced in her arms. Obviously, Gwen had not babysat often as a teenager. 

Jack was messing with the cradle, pushing one of the fins flat and muttering. 

"Sir?"

"It's a little advanced, but they're supposed to-" suddenly it folded into itself, flattening and shrinking to a much more manageable size. Ianto slid the cutter in his pocket. "Ha!"

Jack picked up the neat box with a handle on top and started toward the car. Gwen repositioned her hands and followed, and Ianto prepared to throw himself to the ground to cushion the inevitable falling baby. 

"Gwen, I think you should call around and see if there are any good orphanages around here. Or adoption agencies. Ianto-"

"Feed the strays?" Ianto suggested, as Gwen gaped at Jack.

"We can't just abandon her!" Gwen insisted, instinctively raising one of her hands to gesture angrily. 

Ianto reached over and snatched the baby away as the tiny mouth opened in a howl of indignation at the sudden shift in weight distribution. Without breaking stride, Ianto settled the baby in the crook of his arm and jiggled slightly. She whimpered and he shushed her, rocking more gently. 

He didn't notice Gwen's wide-eyed surprise until he reached the SUV and realized she wasn't next to him. He raised an eyebrow and slid into the back. If Jack finally managed to crash the SUV, it would be far more safe than the front. They were going to have to buy a infant car seat if they ever took her out again.  
___

"He has a niece and nephew," Jack said to Gwen as she peeked out of his office door. Ianto had taken off his jacket and waistcoat, and had one burp cloth draped across his shoulder and another one in his lap, keeping the baby from his clothes.

"So, Ianto can take care of the baby." Gwen argued. "Well, you and Ianto."

"Meghan." Jack said absently. "Ianto named her while you were getting formula and diapers."

"Oh. Okay, so Meghan. We can't just drop her off at a shelter, Jack. She's from the future!"

"The technology to determine that doesn't exist yet," Jack said. He was tinkering with the cradle, prying the touchscreen on the side open with a screwdriver. "She'll be fine, won't even remember or know that she's not from around here." 

"It's someone's child, Jack. Shouldn't we try to send her back?"

Jack didn't meet her eyes. "What do you suggest, Gwen? Throw her back in the rift?" 

From behind her, Gwen heard a small gasping sound and she turned around fast enough to catch Ianto's wince as spit dribbled onto his collar.  
____

Gwen heard the hysterical shrieks before the cog finished rolling back. She rushed in, prepared for some sort of attack, Jack dead, Ianto missing, water everywhere, Meghan abandoned under a desk...

Instead, Jack was pacing in front of the rift monitor, frantically shushing Meghan while bouncing her lightly and trying to stick a soother in her mouth. Gwen dropped her bag by her desk, and came over. 

"I know, I know," Jack said, catching the soother as it fell. "But her diaper is clean and she just _had_ a bottle and Ianto burped her before he went to-"

Ianto came skittering from the entrance to the showers, barefoot, in trousers and a vest. Bits of water came flying from his hair as he pulled himself up the stairs. 

"What did you do?" Ianto demanded, pulling Meghan out of Jack's hands. 

"Nothing!" Jack protested. 

Ianto ignored him, rubbing Meghan's back while she mouthed his vest. Gwen resisted the urge to giggle.  
___

Ianto shifted his weight minutely, keeping Meghan's head tucked against his shoulder while he typed one-handed. They hadn't agreed on an exact age yet, but she was starting to settle into a rough pattern of napping. Sometimes. 

Meghan was warm against his chest, and he found himself cuddling her slightly, resting his cheek lightly against the fuzz of her hair. 

He sighed as another message popped up directing him to the archives. Too many of the files still weren't properly digitized, or were simply informal notes scribbled into margins. He was too limited up here on the computer to research properly. The archives, however, were not strictly _safe_.

He spent a few minutes moving Gwen to the couch and settling Meghan into her arms. Gwen was practically holding her breath while he walked hurriedly to the lift. Jack needed those files quickly and they were running out of time.  
___

"Will it work?" Gwen whispered. They tried to keep quiet during nap-time, even though Meghan was safely away in Jack's bunker. A baby monitor sat a few feet away on Tosh's desk, emitting crackly sounds of baby breathing.

"Torchwood One used this to broadcast messages past Pluto. They were already testing it for short messages through time." Ianto whispered back.

"But we still don't have any way to confirm if they get the message." Jack wasn't so good at whispering.

"Ok. Sixty-third century. Do they still speak English?"  
___

"Your turn," Ianto said into the pillow, as the sounds of Meghan's fussing came down the open manhole. 

"She likes you better," Jack complained, reaching over Ianto to grab the nearest rung. 

Ianto mumbled something incoherent into the pillow. He didn't even open his eyes when Jack climbed down again to roll him onto his back, just automatically reached up to settle Meghan onto his chest. She liked sleeping on him, or Jack, or Gwen, much more than in her cradle. 

Ianto decided he'd worry about the fact that she might be growing dependent on a human pillow later. He slid over and Jack curled around him, keeping one hand on Meghan's back to hold her steady. Ianto fell back asleep to her sleepy baby sounds mingling with Jack's quiet breaths.  
___

They huddled over Tosh's monitor, feeding the message through the translation algorithm to confirm Jack's earlier less-than-sure attempts. Gwen at the keyboard, with a grumbling Jack on one side and a baby-feeding-Ianto on the other. 

"See? Thanks, and coordinates for where we should meet them. Told you." Jack read smugly from the screen.

"But when are they coming?" Gwen responded, repeating their earlier argument.

Ianto jerked his chin toward the large circle in the middle of the message. "Full moon? Tomorrow night. Moonrise is around half nine."  
___

"We thank the caregiver." The oldest-looking one spread his hands out, the left higher than the right and turned to Ianto. Jack stepped back, and Ianto straightened, aware that he was about to experience a futuristic ceremony about which he was totally unfamiliar. Again. 

"Um," he said helpfully, and looked at Jack. Meghan didn't seem so fazed by the lights, but to be fair her big, pale eyes were fixated on Ianto's tie. She liked stripes. 

They were definitely human, but their skin had a disconcertingly purple tinge.

One of the younger ones came forward, his arms forming a cradle. For the briefest of moments Ianto didn't want to give her back - _Who are you and how can you prove that you are capable of taking care of her?_ \- but he was being ridiculous. They had already confirmed that they were all talking about the same missing child. 

Ianto softly kissed Meghan head. "Goodbye," he whispered, and carefully passed her over. 

There was some sort of official exchange of gifts and thanks, and Ianto nodded and smiled and watched two of them wrap her in a bright orange blanket and marvel over the soother. Ianto stifled the urge to yell, "She's due for a bottle in two hours!" as they got back in their time-ship. 

The old one was the last to go, and he turned around before the door to the ship closed, and raised his arms up again. "We thank the caregiver," he repeated, and the door slid shut and the engines started, and the whole thing faded from view. 

They all stood there for a moment. Ianto shoved his hands into his pockets, and thought longingly of a beer.

"So," Gwen broke the silence. "Rhys thought we could make extra money on the side hiring out Ianto as a nanny."


End file.
